Tag Archives: Homemade gifts

My son was momentarily very impressed by Lego picture frame version 1, but his first question was “can I break it?” Version 2.0 should last at least a day.

Version 2.0

Really, the Lego picture frame isn’t for kids. It belongs in a hipster’s retro-decor kitchen or bathroom, next to their abstract Super Mario artwork. A permanent Lego creation defeats the purpose of Legos. Like any construction toys, they’re made to be destroyed and rebuilt, over and over. And just as I’ve passed my Legos on to my children, they will pass them on to theirs, and so proceeds the Lego circle of life, the generations of Legos.

My buddy Tim-o recently told me that our planet has more Legos than people. Apparently (link), a few other species could be outnumbered as well:

More than 400 billion Lego bricks have been produced since 1958. There are about 62 Lego bricks per person of the Earth’s population.

That seems wrong, both statistically and morally. People are starving, right? Fifty Lego bricks aren’t going to do them any good, unless they’re the edible ones, but those are just candy. We need nutritious Legos.

They are an excellent toy, and brilliantly mass-marketed, but to be honest, and to destroy the chances that they ever sponsor my blog, I admit that I prefer not to support the endless production of more Legos. I also prefer the basic extensible blocks to the newfangled specialty pieces that have limited use. Call me old-fashioned.

As the ultimate homemade gift from dad I recommend getting some bulk pieces online (Craigslist usually has a hundred or so postings), building a sweet ship or castle, and leaving it under the tree, or outside their bedroom door.

My frugality knows no bounds. OK, it knows a few. I don’t reuse floss and I never divide a baby wipe more than once. Half a wipe is my limit. Thirds? No way.

I’m not an Ebenezer, but I do raise my right eyebrow at the commercialism of the holidays. Thoughtful homemade gifts get major bonus points. Almost as priceless are thrift store treasures.

My first attempt at a hand crafted gift is a Lego picture frame. It took 20 minutes to build, and the geometry worked out nicely. Who knew that a 3 x 5 photo would fit perfectly in a 13 x 18 dot Lego grid? It was meant to be. Some flat rectangles as the base, an inner border of thin 1 x 4 and 1 x 6 pieces, and the photo is held in place by the bricks on the front.

A Lego picture frame… brilliant. I have no idea who to give it to. My son would destroy it to make a lava boat robot gun ship. My wife would put it on her nightstand, and once my son found it he’d destroy it to make a laser flier digger booster mobile 3D.